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Inditex and UNI sign global deal to guarantee workers’ rights

UNI Global Union and fashion distributor Inditex today signed a Global Agreement to formally recognize their partnership to ensure workers’ rights and the growth and sustainability of the company.

The deal between the fashion manufacturer and retailer and the global union will ensure that core labour standards and rights are protected through social dialogue with Inditex management in every country in which the Group operates. The accord is an endorsement of a range of fundamental rights of workers enshrined in ILO Conventions.

“With this agreement we are cementing the commitment of Inditex leaders and its workers to make the company great,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “It will ensure it is a great place to work and that it makes great products.”

The agreement enshrines basic principles of corporate social responsibility that range from the right of all its workers to unionise and bargain collectively to ecological sustainability, fair trade and product safety.

“The aim of Inditex has always been and will be to do the right fashion at the right time and with the right conditions. We deeply believe that each of these three pillars add value to our workforce, to our customers and to the sustainability of our business,” said CEO and Deputy Chairman of Inditex Pablo Isla. “This agreement is integral to our business plan and reflects Inditex’s personality and beliefs”

UNI says that global agreements are the best way for workers and executives to form an effective and equitable partnership to spell out their goals, rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

In the Global Agreement, Inditex and UNI declare their common interest in the growth and sustainability of the company, they accept internationally recognized conventions on human and trade union rights and they agree to work together to protect those rights.

The agreement was signed at 10:30 on Friday, October 2 at the UNI Commerce Global Conference in Dublin, Ireland.

Inditex manufactures, distributes and sells clothes, accessories and home decor items under its labels Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe. The company employs 90,000 workers in 4,430 stores in 73 countries worldwide.

UNI is the global union for skills and service workers. It has 20 million members worldwide including 4 million in the commerce sector.